During its early years, the NASCAR Drive For Diversity program was barely a blip on the stock-car racing radar screen. Things got better when the NASCAR affiliated Rev Racing team was formed in 2009, but general manager/competition director Jefferson Hodges remembers that even at the end of 2010 the team was still such a mess only he and one other manager survived a cleanup.

Rev Racing has come along way since then, and is now one of the hottest feeders to NASCAR's top three series. The Max Siegel-owned, Concord, N.C.-based team enjoyed another triumph this week when Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Daniel Suarez will drive one of its Nationwide Series cars on Friday in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway.

Suarez, a Rev Racing K&N Pro Series East driver who finished second in a series stop at Langley Speedway last summer, will race Friday against another Rev alum: Ganassi/Sabates driver Kyle Larson. Suarez then will change cars and return to his regular K&N duties in the Blue Ox 100, where he will be joined by four Rev Racing teammates.

Larson, meanwhile, will move on to drive in Saturday's Toyota Owners 400 in the Sprint Cup Series, where he is the hottest rookie with four top 10s in the past five races. The other Rev Racing alum to make a splash nationally is Darrell Wallace Jr., whose Truck Series win at Martinsville in October made him the first African-American to win a race in a NASCAR national series in 50 years.

"The Drive for Diversity program from NASCAR has believed in me, and they've put their confidence in me again," Suarez, a 22-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico, said this week when JGR picked him to drive at Richmond. "That's pretty cool, and I'm grateful to them."

Larson said, "That's really cool because Daniel has done a done a great job. For him to get the opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing is awesome. He's got some laps at Richmond so he should do well. It's good to see another kid from Rev Racing and the Diversity Program there."

"Darrell's success and Kyle's success have brought us more attention. With the training we give them, guys like Joe Gibbs are taking a chance on more of our people."

Hodges does not even try to give Rev all the credit for the rise of drivers like Wallace and Larson. He says Wallace came to the program with tremendous self-confidence and that Larson was the most talented driver on a Rev team to date.

But Larson echoes Suarez in crediting the program with making him better.

"I gained a lot of experience there, because it was my first year in stock cars," Larson said of Rev. "They also helped me with the (handling) media stuff.

"They help give (minority) kids a shot and that's great for the sport."

Hodges is sure some might be skeptical that Rev drivers are getting a break only because they are minorities, though he adds a driver like Wallace is plenty tough enough to handle the talk. But with Wallace winning in the Truck Series, Larson winning in the Truck and Nationwide series, and Larson finishing second in Cup at California recently, Rev Racing's credibility grows daily.

"The more success we have the more control we have over preparing the drivers," Hodges said. "As the program peaks, people like (Langley Speedway owner) Bill Mullis (whose track hosts the Rev selection combine) step in and help us.

"We get better drivers, better facilities, better equipment, better people and more sponsorship. We just keep getting better."